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Archives for December 2011

A man, the defendant, sits solemnly and silently, while his lawyer paces the room. We, the audience, just now getting into the scene, know nothing about this man, what his charge his, etc. We do, however, catch the final argument from the lawyer.

“Ladies and gentleman of the jury. What my defendant did was unlawful, unjust, evil, say what you will. But the fault was not of his own. It was not his hand that started these actions, but the hand of his father as he beat the defendant as a young boy so many years ago. And by the hand of his mother as she neglected him and shared his drug use as a teenager. This past no doubt has set my defendant up to do this crime. It started, not from his own free will, but from the coercion of others horrible actions.

At any point in the day random thoughts can flood our head. Thoughts of the past, of the future, of what we are going to eat for lunch. At any point we may come up with an innovative idea, and just before we can find a pen, we get distracted and lose everything.

Thinking, in all of its glory, can be so disconnected as to make it seem like you have no control of what jumps in and out of your cranium.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abe Lincoln

One objection that is often given to me in regards to the study of philosophy is that it doesn’t provide answers to the questions it prides itself on pursuing. What is truth? How can we know when we know? What is an ethical life? It seems like these questions are still out there, waiting to be answered.

For one, this objection is downright false. Answers are given to these questions all the time. Plato had an answer. So did Aristotle, and most others leading up to contemporary names. What the skeptic really means is that the answers are very cloudy and heavily argued, leaving much room for doubt. [Read more…] about Solve The Problem Before It Arrives